If you’ve got users who are non-exempt employees, warn their managers to be careful about when and how often they contact those workers via company-issued mobiles.

Non-exempt employees who respond to work-related e-mails and text messages after-hours must be paid for their time, says a recent federal court decision.

A group of retail sales associates and supervisors filed a lawsuit against their employer, T-Mobile USA, for back wages and unpaid OT.

They claimed they were required to use company-provided mobile devices to log into computer systems and respond to e-mail and text messages at “all hours of the day.”

The employees also alleged they were required to answer and make work-related phone calls, participate in conference calls and work off the clock during lunch breaks.

To protect your firm, make sure you have an “off-the-clock” policy that requires non-exempt employees to report all work time — no matter when it’s done.

Tags: cell phones, cellphones, non-exempt employees, pay, work-related, workers